36 GBM 2021 Course Outline (6.7.2021)

Updated July 6, 2021
GREEN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Name of the Faculty: Achal Raghavan

Affiliation:
(Institution / Organisation& Designation)
Adjunct Faculty, IIMB
Teaching Area:
(such as Finance & Accounting; Marketing; production
& Operations Management; Strategy) Strategy
This course may be offered
(PGP, FPM, PGPEM, PGPPM, EPGP)
http://www.iimb.ernet.in/programmes PGP
Credits (No. of hours):
(3 credits=30 classroom hours; 1.5 credits-15
classroom hours; session=90 minutes) 3 credits (30 hours)
Term / Quarter:
(Starting April /June /September/December) Term 5 / Sep 2021
Course Type:
(Regular: staggered across the term;
Workshop1: 3-5 continuous days) Regular
Additional information required Profile of faculty attached

Are there any financial implications
to this course? No
1
Workshop course: Please provide reasons as to why the course is being offered in workshop mode and why it cannot be offered
as a regular course (that is spread over 10 weeks). As an institution, IIMB prefers courses offered in the regular mode, since it
results in better learning experience for the students and avoids overlapping of courses.
LDP: Template for proposing new course outlines_v2017

Course Summary
This course addresses an exciting emerging theme in today’s businesses worldwide: “How do
companies and managers cope with the business challenges posed by climate change? How do
they align their business strategies with “green” and sustainable business principles in such a
way that what is good for the world is also good for their bottom line?”
Using a combination of global case studies, HBR articles, videos and guest sessions, this course
equips today’s manager with the concepts, strategies and tools necessary for managing
businesses in a sustainable, “green” manner.
This course received overall ratings of 4.27 for the instructor and 4.20 for the course (both on a
scale of 5) from the students last year (PGP/Term 5/Oct 2020).
Reading materials
a. Harvard Business Review on Green Business Strategy, The Harvard Business Review
Paperback Series, HBS Press
b. Harvard Business Review on Business and the Environment, The Harvard Business
Review Paperback Series, HBS Press
c. Harvard Business Review on Greening Your Business Profitably, HBR Press
Pre-requisites (if any): None.
Learning Objectives
The course is designed with the following specific objectives and learning outcomes:
a. Provide today’s manager with the strategic framework and action initiatives required to
mitigate and manage the business risks of climate change
b. Provide the foundation for using “green” business practices as a competitive edge for
sustainable long-term growth
Pedagogy
 Concept and theory sessions
 Case analyses
 Guest session
 Active class discussion
 Videos

Course Evaluation& Grading Pattern
 Group assignment : 40%
 Final exam : 60%
--------
100%
Session-wise plan
Session Topic
No.
1 CLIMATE CHANGE AND BUSINESS IMPLICATIONS

Topic: Introduction to climate change and Green Business Management
Readings: “A road map for natural capitalism”: Lovins, Lovins and Hawken, HBR on
Business and the Environment, HBS Press
2 Topic: Climate change: Implications for business
Class discussions on implications for the business manager.
Readings: “Climate change in 2018: Implications for Business”: Henderson, Reinert,
Dekhtyar, Midgal, HBS
3 Topic: Global warming: Risks & opportunities for businesses
Assessing risks & opportunities: Where does the manager begin?
Readings: “What every executive needs to know about global warming”: Kimberly O’Neill
Packard & Forest L. Reinhardt, HBR on Green Business Strategy, HBS Press
4 GREEN AS A BUSINESS STRATEGY
Topic: Going beyond the question, “Does it pay to be green?”
5 approaches to environmental investments that produce shareholder returns
Readings: “Bringing the environment down to earth”: Forest L. Reinhardt, HBR on Green
Business Strategy, HBS Press
5 Topic: Going beyond the question, “Does it pay to be green?” (Contd.)
Case: Nike Considered: Getting Traction on Sustainability
MIT-Sloan case study
Readings: 1. Case
2. “Bringing the environment down to earth”: Forest L. Reinhardt, HBR on Green Business
Strategy, HBS Press
6 Topic: Green and competitive
Environmental improvement as an economic and competitive opportunity
Readings: 1. “Green and Competitive: Ending the Stalemate”: Michael E. Porter and Claas
Van Der Linde, HBR on Business and the Environment, HBS Press
2. “Competitive advantage on a warming planet”: Jonathan Lash and Fred Wellington,
HBR on Green Business Strategy, HBS Press
7 EVALUATING YOUR GREEN STRATEGY
Topic: The Sustainability Portfolio
A diagnostic tool to determine if a company’s strategy is consistent with sustainability
Readings: “Beyond greening: Strategies for a sustainable world”: Stuart L. Hart, HBR on
Green Business Strategy, HBS Press

8 Topic: The Sustainability Portfolio (Contd.)
Case: Environmental Management at IBM (A): Making Sustainability Sustainable
through Passion and Process
Readings: 1. Case
2. “Beyond greening: Strategies for a sustainable world”: Stuart L. Hart, HBR on Green
Business Strategy, HBS Press
9 THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Topic: Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C) approach and environmental sustainability
Case: Cradle to cradle design at Herman Miller: Moving toward environmental
sustainability
HBR case study
Readings: 1. Case
2. Background reading from the internet on “Cradle to Cradle” and “Circular Economy”
10 SUSTAINABILITY AND ETHICS
Topic: Sustainability and ethics
Principles in ethics
A framework for ethical decision-making
Readings: Santa Clara University article: “A Framework for Thinking Ethically”
11 Topic: Preserving the environment (vs.) corporate economic interests
Case: BP and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster of 2010
Readings: Case
12 Preserving the environment (vs.) corporate economic interests (Contd.)
Case: Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited: The sun sets on its mining operations
IIMB case study
Readings: Case
13 EXECUTING GREEN STRATEGIES – ISSUES & CHALLENGES
Topic: Green technology and economic/political risks
Case: AEP: Carbon capture and storage
HBS case study
Readings: Case
14 Topic: Environmental mission and corporate sustainability
Case: Patagonia
HBS case study
Readings: 1. Case
2. “Growth Through Global Sustainability”: Joan Magretta, HBR on Business and the
Environment, HBS Press.
15 Topic: Green energy and growth strategy
Case: SunPower: Focused on the Future of Solar Power
Readings: Case
16 Topic: Green business: Marketing and supply chain challenges
Case: Sustainable tea at Unilever
HBS case study
Readings: Case
17 Topic: Managing a strategic shift
Case: Clarke: Transformation for environmental sustainability
Readings: Case

18 GUEST SESSION
Topic: “It pays to be green”
Guest session by Mr. S Raghupathy, Dy. Director General, CII, New Delhi*
Readings: “Building the Green Way”: Charles Lockwood, HBR on Green Business
Strategy, HBS Press
19 Topic: The importance of strategy execution
Readings: To be circulated
20 WRAP UP
Topic: Green business management: A call to action
A sum-up of green business concepts, strategies and tools
Readings: All previous session material
*Planned; to be confirmed

Profile of the Adjunct Faculty
Achal Raghavan
Achal Raghavan teaches at IIM Bangalore as adjunct faculty, and at IIM

Ahmedabad and IIM Udaipur as visiting faculty. His focus areas are
“green” business management, ethics in business, and marketing
management. Raghavan is a regular member of the faculty team for
executive education programs conducted by IIM Bangalore. He has earlier
taught at IIM Indore and IIM Shillong as visiting faculty.
Raghavan also provides consulting and executive education services in the areas of
strategy and business excellence. His articles have been published in Vikalpa, the
management journal published by IIM Ahmedabad, and in The Hindu Business Line.
Raghavan brings with him over 46 years of work experience in the automotive,
engineering and consulting industries. In this period, he has held Board-level positions
for 11 years, as Director in Delphi Automotive Systems, India, Ingersoll-Rand (India)
and Cramlington Precision Forge, UK. His work experience includes tenures at Larsen
& Toubro, the Anand Group, and Sundram Fasteners (TVS). His career spans work
experience in marketing, sales, exports, international operations, purchasing,
operations, general management and corporate governance. He has traveled to over 30
countries on business.
Raghavan acquired his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Indian

Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM) in 1973, and a PGDM (MBA) from IIM
Ahmedabad in 1977.
Contact details
Phone: +91 98808 88644

Email: [email protected]
Bengaluru

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Updated July 6, 2021

GREEN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Name of the Faculty: Achal Raghavan

Additional information required Profile of faculty attached

LDP: Template for proposing new course outlines_v2017

Pre-requisites (if any): None.

LDP: Template for proposing new course outlines_v2017

1 CLIMATE CHANGE AND BUSINESS IMPLICATIONS

LDP: Template for proposing new course outlines_v2017

LDP: Template for proposing new course outlines_v2017

LDP: Template for proposing new course outlines_v2017

Achal Raghavan teaches at IIM Bangalore as adjunct faculty, and at IIM

Raghavan acquired his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Indian

Phone: +91 98808 88644

LDP: Template for proposing new course outlines_v2017

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